Thursday, 7 November 2013

Fwanyanga
Mulikita Committee room at Parliament buildings in Lusaka is a famous venue where
controlling officers account for the misuse of public funds.

The
Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) holds regular meetings in this
room to question permanent secretaries, witnesses and other government
officials on how they spend public funds.

This
rooms is usually a quiet place but sometimes its full of humor and laughter.

MMD
Chipangali MP Vincent Mwale is the committee’s chairman and he usually talks
tough about financial irregularities.

On
Wednesday, Blackberries were a big issue here.

Having
spent K12, 500 000 on five undelivered black berries for senior council
officers, the Serenje District Council was on the defence over the matter.

It
was discovered that the council paid an individual and not a company to supply
the phones and the purpoted supplier fail sick and never delivered the
products.

Members
of parliament who included UPND Choma Central MP Cornelius Mweetwa and his MMD Mafinga
counterpart Catherine Namugala had too many concerns over the purchase of the Blackberries.

Later
that day, it was the turn of Mwinilunga District Council to defend its payment
of K746, 000 to a company which did not exist.

The
company, Buildtech Contractors was paid in advance to do works at the Civic
Center but it has been discovered that the company does not exist and its
owners are on the run

The
case has since been taken to court.

The
matter got more interesting when Solwezi District Council Treasurer Anthony
Sinkala revealed that awarding of the contract was influenced by politicians
and all officials who handled the matter have since died.

He added
that people in Mwinilunga are fearing to act on the matter because who ever
tries to deal with it dies.

Since
last week, various District Councils are appearing before the Parliamentary Public
Accounts Committee.

Local Government Permanent Secretary Reverend Howard Sikwela is appearing before the committee the whole week.

The Committee is seeking clarification
on irregularities raised in the 2010-2011 Auditor General's report on grants.

Wednesday, 16 October 2013

As a finalist of the African
Story Challenge in the Agriculture and Food Security category, I submitted a
story captioned above for judging.

In gathering the story, I
spent time in Mazabuka and Solwezi Districts where peasant farmers have been
displaced by multi-national companies that have opened mines in the area.

In Mazabuka, over 600 hundred farmers have been displaced while in Solwezi, thousands have been displaced and affected.

Below is the full story.

Zambia
has the potential to be the food basket of Central and Southern Africa being
blessed with fertile soils, lots of flat tillable lands and lots of rivers and
dambos which can be harnessed for irrigation to supplement the adequate rains.

Peasant
and small scale farmers have always contributed greatly to food security in
Zambia. Even though peasant farmers only produce food for consumption, their
production ensures food security at the household level.

Small
scale farmers, on the other hand, produce the bulk of the staple maize crop
purchased by the Food Reserve Agency and consumed at national level.

Any
disturbance in terms of settlement of peasant as well as small-scale farmers
affects their production levels and so affects food security at both household
and national levels.

Many
peasant and small-scale farmers have been displaced by mines that have opened
on their ancestral lands through the investments of multinational corporations.
The displaced farmers have mostly been resettled.

These
resettlements, in many cases, have not been successful and have affected the
farmers’ livelihoods and production and in turn affected food security.

Apart from a beautiful brand of
football which made the country African champions in 2012, Zambia is synonymous
with friendly people, prestine, undisturbed wildernesses with wildlife and an
impressive mining industry.

Zambia’s mines have an indelible
mark on the world of mining. For example Chililabombwe town boasts what used to
be the deepest mine in the world and also the wettest underground mine in the
world in Konkola Deep Copper Mine. Chingola town boasts of Nchanga Open Pit which
is the second largest open cast mine in the world, covering nearly 30 km² and
up to 4km deep.

Zambia is the World’s No. 1
emerald producer and is the largest producer of copper in Africa. The list goes on and on.

Zambia's open-door investment policy,
meant to encourage foreign capital from Multinational Corporations – usually
with a lot of local compromise – has always come under criticism from observers.

The government of Zambia has
courted foreign investors, offering land and tax breaks as inducements.

Investment policies are
criticised for passing on the real cost of development to the poor people, who
are being evicted from their ancestral lands to make way for the new prestigiousmining
projects.

The investment policies have been
credited with helping fuel an annual growth rate of more than five percent over
the past 4 to 5 years, cutting inflation to single digits, and appreciation of
the kwacha against foreign currencies.

Displaced farmers in Mazabuka

Displaced farmers in Mazabuka meeting Government officials

In early September this year, I travelled to Mugoto Village
in Mazabuka and spent a day with Moshen Chilala, a 24-year-old married young
man, and his family.

Moshen is one of the peasant farmers who have been affected
by the opening of Munali Nickel Mine in his childhood village.

Family life, and especially agriculture, in Mugoto area has
not been the same since Munali Nickel Mine, an underground mining operation,
opened.

According to Moshen, the coming of the Munali Mine has had
an adverse effect on the lives of the peasant and small-scale farmers of the
area.

He tells me that before the opening of the mine, he used to
produce 300 bags of 90kilograms of maize but now the yield is down to less than
100 bags.

His story is shared by many other displaced farmers in
Mazabuka.

One of the problems the villagers face is the low water
levels in the water wells as a result of watertable receding because of the
mine abstracting water in the area through a number of boreholes.

The Munali nickel mine is located
approximately 60km south of Lusaka in Southern Zambia. The mine is well served
by road, rail and power infrastructure as well as water supplies.

Development of the nickel deposit
commenced in September 2006 following a positive Bankable Feasibility Study and
receipt of the necessary government permits and approvals.

Munali Mine started full
operations in mid-2008. The mine was opened on land previously occupied by
peasant and small-scale farmers and used for agriculture.

Munali Nickel Mine was initially
developed on 3,000 hectares of land and the mine then acquired another 2,100 hectares
of land for the mine extension. Many families were displaced and these needed
resettlement. This has led to much disturbance in the agriculture of the area
and affected food security at the household level for these residents.

The mine produced from the time
it was commissioned to 2009 and was placed on Care and Maintenance in March
2009. In Dec 2009 it reopened and attained the design throughput of 7500tonnes
per month which was achieved in Sept 2010. Currently, the mine is back on care
and maintenance.

Munali was 100% owned by Albidonfrom
the start up to the time Albidon sold out. It is now 100% owned by Jinchuan Group,
China's largest producer of nickel, cobalt and platinum group metals and a
major producer of copper.

The Albidon Mine in Mazabuka
District is one of only a very few nickel sulphide developments worldwide and
it became the first and to date remains the only nickel mine in Zambia.

But this mine development seems to have come at a cost to
the livelihoods of the local residents and their agriculture.

When the mine displaced residents, one of those affected and
relocated was Mr Alfred Mwiinga. Mr Mwiinga and about 125 other farmers where
moved from Mugoto to a resettlement area named RAP.

Mr Mwiinga has now been resettled to an area where he cant
plant maize and produce like earlier because the land is waterlogged and
cracks.

In July 2012, after a failed resettlement scheme, the
residents of Mugoto area in Mazabuka dragged Albidon Mining to court for
breaching the compensation agreement entered between them and the mining firm.

This was after what the residents called the mine's failure
to meet its obligations, which resulted in the residents living in hazardous
conditions. About 38 houses in the resettlement scheme area had been flooded in
water following heavy rains.

The houses were part of the 117 units built by the mine
meant to relocate 125 families earmarked for displacement following the opening
of the mine. The houses had also developed cracks on the floor and walls. The
mine had agreed to construct modern dwelling houses for the head of each
plaintiff and other additional reasonable dwelling houses for adults and
dependents, water and other vital necessities.

The residents asked the court to compel the mining company
to provide 25,000,000 hectares of land and damages for inconveniencing and
exposing them to harmful mining activities and exemplary and punitive damages.

At the time of making this documentary, the mine had
abandoned the contruction of the clinic and school they had planned to build
for the resettled farmers. There had also been efforts to re-engineer the land
through drainages but this was not yet complete.

I travelled to Munali Nickel Mine on several occasions to
get an interview with the mine management on this issue of resettlement but the
local managers refused to be filmed without express permission from Jinchuan
offices in Hong Kong.

However, a local Mine General Manager, issued a statement in
which he said the company abandoned the construction of a clinic and houses due
to lack of funds.

The farmers of Mugoto are not the only people to be
displaced by multinational corporation investments in Zambia. In the
North-Western part of Zambia, a number of large mines have been opened in the
last few years.

For instance, in Solwezi district alone, three huge mines
have been opened in the last 5 years. One of those mines is Kansanshi Mine,which
is Africa’s biggest copper mine.

Displaced farmers in Solwezi

In mid September this year, i travelled to Solwezi District
to see how the development of Kansanshi Mine has affected local farmers.

The management at Kansanshi mine refused to give a comment
on the plight of the displaced farmers despite acknowledging receipt of my
press querry. My phone calls were answered but no appointment was confirmed. This
unfriendliness towards the media is a common trend among the big multi-national
investors in the mining sector of Zambia.

I travelled to the mine in Solwezi but had to return without
any footage of management speaking on the issues raised in this documentary.

But I interviewed several farmers who complained of their
displacements having affected their annual maize yields.

Their complaint is that their new fields became conditioned
to feriliser which they used to receive from Kansanshi mine but with the company’s
failure to continue giving them fertilizer, their yield has gone down.

According to the Jesuit Center for Theological Reflection,
Solwezi is the second most expensive town in Zambia after the capital despite
it being almost a rural town.

This could be because agriculture in the area has reduced
and local farmers cannot supply enough food to meet the demand

And according to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) Executive
Director Chola Kafwabulula, yields in Solwezi and Mazabuka have gone down from
2011 to 2014 due to the displacement of the farmers by the mines.

In an interview, Mr Kafwabulula told me that peasant farmers
contribute more than 80 percent of Zambia’s food security. The FRA is a
government agency that stocks food to maintain food security in Zambia.

Though many factors could have contributed to this drop in
agricultural productivity over the relevant years including changes in rain and
distribution of farm inputs by government, we cannot rule out the loss of
contribution to production of the resettled farmers.

While in Solwezi, I interviewed Council of Elders Chairman
Lucas Chikoti who complained that mines were not benefiting the locals. Mr
Chikoti said roads, schools and hospitals were in dilapidated state and the
mines were not giving back to the communities.

He wished the mines would also compensate the displaced
farmers adequately to help them go back to the pre-displacement yields.

I shared my findings of the effects of the displacements of
local farmers in Mazabuka and Solwezi with the Deputy Minister of Agriculture
Rodgers Mwewa. The minister showed great surprise at the situation on the
ground and said he would get to the bottom of the issues I raised.

As a result of my visit to the Minister, Zambia’s President
Michael Sata sent Mr Mwewa to Mazabuka to asses the situation and see what
government could do to help the farmers.

Mr Mwewa visited Mugoto village and saw for himself the
suffering of the people and the waterlogged land. Farmers complained to him of
government neglect.

In the wake of his visit, the Zambia Agricultural Research
Institute sent four scientists to Mugoto village who collected samples of the
vertisol soil which is now being examined in the laboratory. Results from these
tests will advise government on what agricultural activities the farmers in
Mugoto can embark on.

Further, the Ministry of Agriculture in its 2014 National
Budget submission has included an amount of money for the displaced farmers in
Mazabuka and Solwezi as a way of sorting out their problem.

In Lusaka, I also caught up with Zambia’s Vice President Dr
Guy Scott who is a former Agriculture Minister. In an impromptu interview, he
showed great surprise at the situation in Mazabuka and directed the Munali
Nickel Mine management to compensate the farmers.

The Mugoto farmers’ fields need re-engineering to avoid
flooding when rains return. However in the fields with vertisol soils that
crack massively this may not improve matters. The farmers may need complete
relocation. Their social lives need attention too.

The construction of the
clinic and school which has stalled for two years needs resumption as the
displaced farmers ealk over 20 kilometers from their new places to their old
land to access medical and education services..

Impact of my story

This story brought out the sufferings of the peasant farmers
at the hands of the multinational mining companies in two provinces. As a
result of my story, Zambia’s President Michael Sata sent his Deputy Minister of
Agriculture Rodgers Mwewa to Mazabuka to asses the problem. Mr Mwewa reported back to the head of state and below are the actions that followed the publication of my story:

In January, 2014, engineers from the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit set camp in Mugoto were they have started constructing a huge dam for the displaced farmers. It will be used for irrigation and source of drinking water for both animals and the displaced farmers.

The Mazabuka District Council has allocated part of the 2013 Constituency Development Fund to the displaced farmers of Mugoto to construct a breeding area for their animals. In my story, the farmers had complained of losing their animals due to lack of extension services, lack of good pasture and lack of a breeding center.

Government has now
put a budgetary allocation to the displaced farmers in the 2014 National
Budget to cater for the displaced farmers.

Another impact is the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute sending
scientists to Mazabuka to collect samples of the vertisol soil and subjecting them to laboratory
tests which will advise the farmers and government on what crops or agricultural activity they
can employ in the waterlogged and cracked soils where they have been
relocated.

This story was also aired simultaneously on TV2 and ZNBC TV on Morning Live program on 25 September, 2013. The Youtube link for the seven minutes in-depth video report is here

AWARDS WON BY THIS STORY:

This story helped me win Second Prize at the 2014 Africa Fact Checking Media Awards held in Nairobi, Kenya on 14 November, 2014. The official announcement is here:

This story was nominated for the 2013 African Story Challenge Media Awards in the Agriculture and Food Security category and was produced with support from the African Media Initiative. I was a finalist for the awards held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in September, 2013.

The story also helped me win a scholarship to attend and cover the Second High Level Summit of the Africa-EU Energy Partnership held at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in February, 2014.

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About The Author

Paul Shalala is a Kitwe-based reporter for the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation, the country's national broadcaster which runs two TV channels and three radio channels. He was recently elected as Secretary (Northern Region) 2016 - 2018 term for the Zambia Union of Broadcasters and other Information Disseminators. On The Zambian Analyst, he blogs about politics, elections, governance and other issues of national and international interest. He previously worked for MUVI Television, New Vision Newspaper and freelanced for The London Evening Post. He has been trained in various specialised journalism courses in Ethiopia, Germany, Ghana, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia. He was awarded the 2016 Mandela Washington Fellowship and studied Public Management at Syracuse University in New York. He has so far reported from Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and North America. Paul has a number of local and international media awards to his credit. Paul is also the the founder and Managing Director for PAMOS Media Consultancy (www.pamosmedia.com) a company which is training 100 Zambian journalists in budget tracking and investigative journalism skills funded by the US Government